Brick-machine



(No Model.)

G. VAN DEX/ENTER. BRICK MACHINE.

No. 411,232. Patented Sept. 17, 1889.

W/T/VE ES: I INVENTOR: ii emwm By $4M ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAVUS VAN DEVENTER, OF MATAXVAN, NEYV JERSEY.

BRICK-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,232, dated September 17, 1889.

Application filed July 17,1889. Serial No. 317,808. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUSTAVUS VAN DE- VENTER, of Matawan, in the county of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Brick-lVL-ichine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to the construction of the followers or plungers of brick-machines which press the clay down into the molds, the object being such formation of the under surface of the follower that the bricks will be of uniform density, whether the clay forced into the press-box over the molds be of uniform thickness or not; and my improvement consists in making the under or bottom side of the plunger so that it will exert a greater pressure at the outside of the mold where the clay is liable to be scant than at the side next the mixer where the clay is more or less compressed and fills the full capacity of the aperture to the press-box. The under surface of the follower may be stepped, concave, corrugated, or on a plain bevel.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a broken perspective View of a part of a common Potts brick-machine having a plunger or follower made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional View of the press-box and a portion of the mixer, and Figs. 3 and 4 show diiferent forms of the follower.

A represents the mixer, which may be of the Potts type or of any approved construction. The clayis forced to the press-box B in this case by the delivery-wheel C, which presses the clay through the aperture D. In the bottom of the press-box, on the table E, is placed the mold F, on or to which the clay is forced as it enters the press-box from the mixer. The follower G is operated verticallyin the pressbox by the crank-shaft H, connected to the follower by the link J and turned by gearwheels K L. Any suitable means for reciprocating the follower may be used. The bottom or contact surface a of the follower declines from the edge nearest the mixer to the opposite edge, and with this feature it may be c011- caved, as shown in Fig. 4:; a plain bevel, as

shown in Fig. 3; or it may be stepped, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. By this construction the lack of density in the clay at the outside of the press-box is compensated for by the increased thickness of the follower, so that the pressure is equalized and made uniform at all parts of the mold, thus producing more uniform and evenly pressed bricks.

While I have shown my invention applied to the Potts brick-machine, it will be understood that it may be applied with equal efficiency to any form of brick-machine.

Having thus fully described myinvention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent In a brick-machine, the follower for pressing the clay into the molds, formed with its outer edge depressed or at alower level than the opposite edge or edge next to the mixer, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

GUSTAVUS VAN DEVENTER.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH McGowN, CHAS. GEHLKAUS. 

